Trump sacks Secretary of State Tillerson, taps CIA director Pompeo

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had replaced U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo, and had tapped Gina Haspel to lead the CIA.

“Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen.

Congratulations to all!” Trump said on Twitter.

Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2018

Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil executive before he was tapped by Trump to lead the U.S. State Department, had just concluded a visit to Africa, with the last leg of his tour in Nigeria on Monday, before leaving for Washington on Tuesday. He had reportedly been in ill-health while visiting Kenya and cut short what would have been a more extensive itinerary across key countries of the continent.

His last official engagement was a meeting Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja yesterday, after which he gave a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama.